Adam- Shuffle stories

Spoilers: 3x24 "Snow Day", 5x06 "Enough", 5x15 "The Party's Over"

A/N: CSI:NY and related characters belong to CBS and other lucky people. I just write stories about them. Not beta'd, so all mistakes are mine.

#1- Rooftops- Lostprophets

Adam wanted a rooftop, somewhere he could be alone with his thoughts. But access to the building's roof was restricted, and he had no good reason to be up there. He wanted to scream, to let go of the pent-up frustration and anger, but he swallowed it down and headed for the elevator.

I can't believe Stella. I thought she cared, that she was a friend.

He didn't mean to hear the argument between Mac and Stella, but he did anyway. Mac was defending him, Stella was on the other side. But she was right, those automated machines would make his job (especially the current one with the bottles) easier. But he didn't want to leave the team… his family.

Family wasn't a word Adam used casually, neither was love. But the lab had become his family, a group of people he grew to love. And one of them just stabbed him in the back with her words.

#2- Faint- Linkin Park

He couldn't get Jake out of his head. The kid didn't deserve to be locked away like a common criminal. The music to Guitar Hero was turned up just shy of 'too loud' and Adam couldn't care less. He needed something to concentrate on, something other than Jake and his own father. His own father, who didn't understand Adam's intelligence, his dislike of sports; who drank too much and loved not nearly enough.

Out of sheer frustration, Adam switched off Guitar Hero, much to the delight of his neighbors. And then he discovered that someone was knocking on his door. He opened it to reveal the smiling yet concerned look of someone he held in high regard (he daren't say love, that's too much right now).

#3- I Took a Beating- I Am the Avalanche

Adam hated hospitals. There were sterile, too clean and too cold. He knew he was physically alright, there was nothing that time wouldn't heal. But there were wounds that would take more than just time.

He kept seeing the two Irish captors in their menacing masks and with their dangerous weapons stalking around the warehouse, making themselves visible to discourage any escape attempts. But Adam hadn't even been thinking about escape, but he had hoped for rescue. It came soon enough, but not until Danny had gotten caught up in the disaster. The finally tally- one dead and one seriously injured captors along with one seriously injured CSI and an injured and traumatized lab tech.

Adam could only sit on the bed, biding his time until he was able to get out and go home. Then maybe he'd be okay.

#4- Was Wir Alleine Nicht Schaffen- Xavier Naidoo

In the hospital, Adam felt so very cold and alone. He tried distracting himself, but it wasn't possible. The burns were too fresh, as were the cuts and bruises. Most of all- the memories were too fresh, too real. The flashbacks hurt the most, they kept everything that the forefront of his mind.

A knocking on the door stirred Adam from his reverie. He slowly looked up to see Danny standing in the doorway, and Adam could see an IV in his arm.

"Hey," was all Danny said when Adam finally made eye contact.

"Shouldn't you be…" Adam started, but drifted off as Danny shuffled into the room.

"Wanted to see how you were doin'," Danny drawled out, his accent seemingly thicker.

"I'm okay… I'll be fine."

"Adam, you went through Hell. You're allowed to be a little less than fine."

"It's over now, all over."

"Well, part of it anyway."

"Your hand?"

"Lucky me, I get surgery in a little while. But they say it'll be fine soon enough."

"I'm really sorry, Danny. For everything."

"What on Earth are you talking 'bout, Adam? You got nothing to be sorry for."

"I got caught, gave 'em my pass and codes, gave in. Your hand… and everything else," Adam explained, shuddering at the flashback of the sounds of Danny getting beaten by their captors.

"Like I said, you got nothing to be sorry for. You did good, Adam. You did good."

And with that, Danny was brought back to his room by a nurse, and Adam was able to finally fall asleep.

#5- The Chain- Fleetwood Mac

Team dinners were always lively occasions. Especially when copious amounts of alcohol were involved, as they always were. It had been two months since Adam found that letter in his locker, two months since he'd felt betrayed by Stella, and two months since he found out how wrong he'd been about her. He hadn't told anyone about his thoughts then, he wasn't quite that comfortable with confiding yet. But he was more comfortable than he'd ever thought.

He sat between Stella and Hawkes, the former talking excitedly to Mac about Argentina while the latter was picking Sid's brain about something that was lost on Adam. Danny and a quite visibly pregnant Lindsay sat across from him with Flack while Sid was at the other end opposite Mac. Everyone was engaged in a conversation, except for Adam. And surprisingly, it didn't bother him much. He just sat back, sipped his beer, and just enjoyed the laidback atmosphere at their table. There may have been case talk going on, but nothing urgent.

It wasn't until a nudge to his right, and the feeling of someone watching him that he focused back on the present.

"You okay there, Adam," Stella asked softly.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking," Adam replied, looking over at a radiant Stella.

"About? If you don't mind my asking…"

"Nothing special," Adam remarked, "Nothing I can really explain, anyway."

Stella smiled, "Just making sure."

Then Danny got his attention, and the evening continued.

Fin